Dinner with Frank

"Dinner with Frank" is a 3D animated short film, which tells the story of a young couple enjoying a romantic night at the Eiffel Tower, but things take a turn for the worst when someone's cheating ways come to the light.

  • Amir Givens
    Director
  • Amir Givens
    Writer
  • Richard Serrano
    Writer
  • Amir Givens
    Producer
  • Amir Givens
    Animator
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Short, Student
  • Runtime:
    1 minute 54 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 6, 2016
  • Production Budget:
    0 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes
Director Biography - Amir Givens

Amir Givens is a senior at Bloomfield College majoring in Animation. He just completed his senior capstone project, which is a 3D animated film called "Dinner with Frank" which tells the story of a young couple enjoying a romantic dinner in Paris that goes terribly wrong. Growing up in East Orange, NJ in a 12 person household, his work incorporates personal memories and familial relationships. Amir is interested in working a creative and collaborative environment, as a video editor, motion graphics artist or animator.

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Director Statement

As a 3d Animator, I enjoy having the ability to evoke different emotions and memories in my viewers. I tend to work with themes such as sexuality, family structure, humor and violence. There are so many people in this world going through tough times, dealing with loss, depression and anxiety. I plan to use my gifts, like my child-like energy and my elaborate imagination, to enter into many different people's worlds and unite them. I want to bring joy into their lives and give people a place to escape, even if only for a moment. I want to force people to exercise their own imaginations.

Animation is a very visual form of communication that in many instances needs no dialogue. This is a very powerful tool because it has the potential to be understood by many cultures even if they do not speak the same language. My capstone project, “Dinner with Frank,” utilizes this to tell the story of three young adults, who are forced into an extremely difficult predicament, in which emotions run high and are out of control. My motivations for creating works like “Dinner with Frank” stem from my own struggles growing up and my ability to cope with what life brings my way.

My major influences come from a variety of animation styles, such as stop-motion, 2D and 3D animation. Growing up watching Saturday morning cartoons really sparked my interest in animation at an early age. However, it wasn’t until I saw DreamWorks "Shrek" that I fell in love with 3D animation. This also goes hand in hand with my major storytelling influence, Disney.